There is so much beauty and romance in the Seto Inland Sea island hopping trip, don't you want to come and see it?

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🤗 Seto Inland Sea - Island Hopping Tour

Takamatsu

Takamatsu, facing the Seto Inland Sea, is the gateway to Shikoku and the centerpiece of the island-hopping tour. It flourished as a castle town of the Matsudaira family in the Edo period, and is still dotted with historical sites that preserve Japan's most traditional culture. There are Michelin-rated parks, Kagawa-ken's Udon noodles, medicinal hot springs, and niche literary streets where you can bike, walk, coffee shop, and explore…

01 Kuribayashi Park

Kuribayashi Park is a garden park built in the Edo period more than 300 years ago. It has been built and expanded over the centuries by successive feudal lords to its current size (3.5 Tokyo Dome). The park has its own unique flavor and is known as a scenic spot, and was awarded three Michelin stars in 2009, making it a highly recommended spot for a special visit.

Chestnut Grove Park is characterized by many features, such as the cleverly borrowed view of Ziyun Mountain and the perfect garden layout. The garden is divided into the South Garden and the North Garden, with the South Garden being a back-to-back garden and the North Pavilion being a modern Western-style garden. Both gardens use Mt. Ziyun as the backdrop, with 6 ponds, 13 rockeries, 1,400 pine trees, plum trees, cherry blossoms, and maple trees, providing different scenery in all seasons.

There are more than 1,400 pine trees in the entire park, and they are more than 300 years old, which makes them even more vibrant. Japanese people often refer to pine viewing as appreciating the appearance of the bark, the branches, and the overall shape of the tree.

Another best way to enjoy the garden is to row a boat directly into the center of the lake, listen to the boatman tell interesting stories about the garden, and add a touching touch by seeing the 300-year-old pine up close.

02 NORTH SHORE

NORTH SHORE, in front of the endless blue sea, even if a person to see the sea to let go as a healing, is also excellent enjoyment.

The store also sells some daily-use goods and sundries. Outdoor seating with a sea view, a cup of coffee, and a view of the Seto Inland Sea with sailboats dotting the distance, it seems that all your worries will disappear.

In addition to quietly watching the sea and listening to the wind, this is also a good place to pass a whole day. In addition to coffee and other beverages, we also offer a wide range of meals, from Chinese food to afternoon tea, with the stunning view in front of you, relaxing and satisfying.

03 Kitahama Alley

Old warehouses in the harbor are transformed into a cultural and creative cluster. Kitahama Alley is a street of oceanfront warehouses converted from old rust and diesel-flavored warehouses, a complex of facilities with a strong cultural and creative atmosphere, including cafes, bookstores, design studios, groceries, beauty salons, restaurants, and so on.

04 Fo Sang San Hot Spring

Originally, Fuseiyama was not a hot spring town, but an ordinary suburb that could be seen everywhere. More than ten years ago, Mr. Oka, who had been away from his hometown since his university studies, quit his Tokyo office and decided to return to his hometown to inherit his family's business and open his own design office. It was at this time that a hot spring was accidentally dug up in the area of Mount Fusei, which gave hope to his father, who had always been teased for his desire to dig up hot springs, and started to dig up hot springs for real. He is influenced by his father and starts digging hot springs as well.

Digging hot springs is very risky, but fortunately the spring they dug up was impeccable in terms of water quantity, quality, and temperature. As a result, Ishihira Oka began to start a design office as planned, and Fuseyama Onsen was born.

Inside the lobby of the onsen, there is a bookstore called “50M”. There are many second-hand books on the tables and chairs, and it is affectionately known as the “Fuseiyama Bookstore”.

Fuseyama Onsen does not only have a large indoor bath, but also an open-air hot spring. The open-air hot spring built with high-quality wood, Japanese cypress, and looking up at the endless sky, combined with the quiet environment of the area, makes it a great place to recuperate.

People can still read, chat or laze around in the lounge area, or go inside for a massage or to watch TV, and occasionally a spa market is held to allow visitors to slow down and spend a leisurely time in this art space.

🤗 Naoshima Island

One day, on the trestle bridge of Naoshima Island

A large pumpkin appeared. The trestle bridge, which can be seen everywhere became a sight to be seen nowhere else. Visitors came from cities and countries far away. The scenery on Naoshima changed dramatically...

Naoshima, like other small islands in Setouchi, once faced a crisis of population exodus and imbalance of island value due to globalization and environmental pollution. It was not until 1987 that Soichiro Fukutake, the chairman of the BELO Group of Japan, bet a large sum of money to buy the southern part of Naoshima and, together with architect Tadao Ando, planned to create an art and culture village that belonged to the world.

From then on, the island, once an obscure place with only 3,000 inhabitants, began a different destiny. Over the course of five years, the Benesse House, which serves as both an exhibition gallery and a residence for travelers, was created: a place where people could live and witness art over time. From the Benesse House, the flame of art has spread across Naoshima.

01 Jizunaka Museum of Art

The Jichu Art Museum was established in 2004 with the idea of making it a “place to think about the relationship between nature and human beings”. In order not to destroy the beautiful landscape of Setouchi, most of the building is located underground, and works by Claude Monet, James Turrell, and Walter de Maria are permanently installed in this Tadao Ando-designed building.

Although the museum is located underground, natural light comes in, and the expression of the works inside and the museum itself changes all the time throughout the year. This museum is the result of the collision between the ideas of the artist and the architect, and it is said that the entire museum is a large-scale site-specific exhibition.

Claude Monet, the representative painter of Impressionism, the gallery arrayed five works from the Water Lilies series penned by Claude Monet in his later years, which visitors can appreciate in natural light. The dimensions of the room, the design style, and the materials used were all chosen to integrate Monet's paintings with the gallery.

Walter de Maria, who placed a 2.2 meter diameter sphere and 27 gilded wooden sculptures in this art space, wanted to turn the entire space into a work of art, and the sphere and the wooden sculptures were set up according to his instructions. Visitors to the space can admire the works through the natural light coming in from the roof, which changes dramatically at different times of the day.

The Museum of Contemporary Art in the Ground utilizes concrete, iron, glass, and wood, which are the main materials that make up Tadao Ando's architecture, in a design that is minimalist to the extreme. The main structure of the building is located almost entirely underground, balancing the opposing concepts of “non-monumentality” and “architecture”.

The Jichu Café, located inside the museum and open only to visitors, is a café with a breathtaking view of Setouchi. The cafe also has an outdoor space so that visitors can feel nature again in the open space. After viewing the works of art, you can spend a relaxing time here.

Based on the plants in the garden that Claude Monet, the author of the museum's collection, built for himself in Giverny, the Jizuchi Garden is planted with about 200 kinds of flowers, plants, and trees. In addition to water lilies, which Monet liked to depict in his later years, willows and irises are also planted, and you can enjoy the beautiful scenery here throughout the year. The theme of “nature” that Monet wanted to portray can be felt in three dimensions here.

02 Lee U Hwan Art Museum

Lee U Hwan Museum of Art is represented by a sense of white space that blends in with the space, such as flat works with brushstrokes depicted through the rhythm of calm repetitive breathing, and sculptures that minimize the sense of fabrication by combining natural stones and iron plates, and so on.

Located in a gently sloping valley surrounded by the sea and mountains, this building designed by Tadao Ando and constructed using the natural topography echoes the Lee's Pillar, a work of art on the front, and creates tension between the vertical and horizontal. In addition, in the space leading from the valley to the sea, the design of triangles and rectangles paired together creates a space that blends with nature and has a sense of rhythm.

03 Valley Gallery

The Valley Gallery opposite the Lee U Hwan Art Museum is the ninth building designed by Tadao Ando. Taking the “Shrine” as the inspiration for the design, the Valley Gallery is transformed into a “sanctuary in the valley”, with a half-roofed space and a double-thick wall, so that when travelers walk around the interior, the wind, rain, light and shadow of the outdoor area are also transmitted in, and the messages from nature continue to be stretched out one after another, with the space between the interior and exterior changing to give the artworks a dynamic aesthetic. The change makes the artwork present a dynamic beauty.

The exterior of the art building showcases Yayoi Kusama's large-scale installation Narcissus Garden (ナルシスの庭), which features approximately 1,700 mirror balls that flow from inside the gallery all the way outside to the water's surface.

Although the Valley Gallery is a building, the way of displaying art works makes the whole valley a gallery, and blending with nature is exactly what Tadao Ando wants to realize. He believes that “ a tree can also become a work”, as long as there are people's emotions behind the work, even if the Americas and Europe, and even further away people will come here.

04 Hiroshi Sugimoto - Corridor of Time

Master photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto has long been close to Naoshima, and the most notable feature of the entire gallery is this outdoor glass teahouse installation, “Winking Toran”, which has drifted from Venice to Versailles and Kyoto, and finally “ settled” in Naoshima.

The Hiroshi Sugimoto Time Gallery displays a large number of the artist's early works, and the exploration of Hiroshi Sugimoto extends from the basement all the way to the outdoors. The artist himself wished that the Time Gallery would serve as a space to record the starting point of his creations, and that it would be linked to the Enoura Survey House that he had designed to form a thread of his creations that would gradually come full circle.

05 Ando Museum

The clear-water concrete space designed by Tadao Ando breathes new life into the century-old wooden houses that remain in the Honmura area. Past and present, wood and concrete, light and darkness. Conflicting elements merge with each other, condensing Tadao Ando's architectural elements into this small space.

In this museum, you will not only be able to see photographs, sketches, and models that bring to life Tadao Ando's activities and Naoshima's history, but you will also be able to admire the revitalized building and space itself.

The concrete box nested inside the old house has a softly curved ceiling, while the light from the overhead lamps mounted on the wooden roof of the main house illuminates the museum. The conflicting elements of past and present, wood and concrete, light and darkness, collide with each other in an intense spark that is layered on top of each other, giving depth to this small space.

06 Naoshima Bathhouse “I♥汤 (I♥U)”

This is an art facility designed by artist Noburo Otake, where you can enjoy a bath to your heart's content. This bathhouse is not only a source of vitality for Naoshima islanders, but also a place where domestic and foreign visitors can communicate with Naoshima islanders.

In addition to the interior and exterior décor, the bathtubs, bathroom murals, mosaic paintings, and bathroom ceramics show the worldview of Nobutora Otake.

🤗 Soybean Island

Kodo Island is the second largest island in the Seto Inland Sea, named after its shape like a bean. Compared to the islands in the Seto Inland Sea, which are famous for their art, this island is full of a rich and simple life and a romantic pink atmosphere.

It is the birthplace of the Japanese olive and soy sauce, and was the setting for “The Witch's Home Companion,” “The Eighth Day of the Cicada,” and “For N.” The unique design of “Lost Street,” filled with art galleries and cafes, turns every corner into a surprise. The unique design of the “Lost Street” filled with art galleries and cafes turns every corner into a surprise, and the Angel Road, which only emerges at low tide, is extremely romantic.

01 Olive Park

Kodo Island was the first place in Japan to successfully cultivate olives, and the production has been going on for a hundred years. Since olive oil is native to the Mediterranean Sea, the park has been made to look as if you are in the Mediterranean Sea, and the white Greek windmill was built to commemorate the twinning of the island with a small Greek island, which makes you feel as if you are not in Japan.

Have you ever seen “The Witch's House”? If you haven't, then you must have heard of Hayao Miyazaki, the beautiful world in his movie. This is one of the scene places of the movie “The Witch's Home Companion”, under the windmill, beside the stone, we ride a broomstick as if we can have infinite magic power and fly to any place our heart desires.

Olive Park is home to Japan's only olive-green postbox, which is also said to be able to fulfill the wishes of the mail, and the scent of olives seems to be carried by the letters posted here, so that the recipients can share in the beauty of this place.

02 Lost Streets

Meiro No Mati (Lost Street) refers to the Tojo Honcho area of the island. As Ozu Island is mountainous and the flat terrain is close to the coast, the area is often attacked by pirates and is often hit by typhoons in the summer, so the local people have designed the streets to protect their property in such a way that they resemble a labyrinth, hence the name “Meiro no Mati (Lost Street)”.

It's fun to walk along lost streets because you never know where the next corner will turn or if you've been down this road before. Every detail you encounter is a unique sight, and there are little “Jizo's” everywhere looking at you with strange expressions.

The area is also an art district, and in order to inherit and promote the local culture, MeiPAM has built a series of galleries and cafes using old houses in the neighborhood. You can take a walk around MeiPAM's five galleries, or take a break at the café de MeiPAM if you're tired.

03 Kokusatsu Hitomi Movie Village

Kodo Island was the location for the famous Japanese movie “24 Hitomi”. The movie tells the touching story of a female teacher who comes to Kodo Island after World War II and her 12 students. The movie has won numerous awards in Japan and is considered a classic. The movie village perfectly reproduces the life scenes of that time, with old classroom desks and chairs, and Japanese elementary school songs playing on a loop.

At the time of the 1987 remake of the film, Little Bean Island was in a phase of modernization. The filmmakers had to reconstruct a traditional village in order to establish the historical background needed for the movie. Today, the old-world atmosphere of the buildings makes many visitors feel like they've stepped back in time.

04 Angel's Road

Angel Road is a gravel road that connects three small islands, which are separated by the sea at high tide and only reappear at low tide. It is said that if you walk along the road with your significant other, your wish will come true, hence the romantic name “Angel Road” for this seemingly ordinary gravel road.

If you climb up to the promised hill, you will see a lot of Ema written in shells hanging on the observation deck with everyone's wishes. When the sun sets, it is really romantic.

05 Yamaroku Soy Sauce

As a place where salt has been produced since ancient times, Kodo Island has a number of specialties. One of them is soy sauce, which is indispensable to Japanese cuisine. A historic soy sauce factory still exists in what is known as the “Home of Soy Sauce”.

Yamaroku Soy Sauce, which has a history of more than 150 years, has been making soy sauce in cedar barrels since its founding. You can visit the factory, which was built in the early Meiji period, and 20,000 people visit every year. Due to high consumption, less than 1% of the total amount of soy sauce is now made in wooden barrels at the original plant.

Mr. Yasuo Yamamoto, the 5th generation of Yamaroku Soy Sauce, has been working diligently day in and day out to pass on to future generations one of the most important food cultures in Japan's history, “Shoyu Soy Sauce”.

06 Little Bean Cafeteria

Kodo Shokudo was born in the center of the island in conjunction with the Setouchi International Art Festival. The restaurant was closed after the festival, but was renovated and reopened in 2011 to meet the needs of the locals. Based on the concept of “the right restaurant,” diners can enjoy their meals in a relaxed atmosphere without any formalities.

The specialty of the restaurant is the “Terrace Onigiri Set Meal,” which is a set meal with rice, soy sauce, vegetables, and other ingredients unique to Kodo Island.

07 Vegetarian

In addition to salt, wheat and spring water are plentiful on Kodo Island, resulting in an abundance of sukiyaki noodles. Somen on Ozu Island is made by carefully stretching the dough by hand and then drying it in the sun, giving it a strong texture.

🤗 Toyoshima Island

Toyoshima is nearly twice the size of Naoshima, but has less than half the population. If Naoshima is an island of art, then Toyoshima is an island of nature without any embellishment. The beauty of nature and the beauty of artifice are perfectly blended here, minimalist, yet powerful.

01 Toshima Art Museum

The Toshima Museum of Art was built on a hill overlooking the Seto Inland Sea in Toshima Karabay, and was designed by artist Rei Naito and architect Rikae Nishizawa. A teardrop-shaped building was built in the corner of the vast site to regenerate the terraces, which were once fallow land, together with the local residents.

There is not a single column or beam in the concrete shell space, which measures approximately 40 x 60 meters and has a maximum height of 4.3 meters. The two openings in the ceiling directly absorb the wind, sound and light from the surrounding area, making it an organic space that echoes nature and architecture. Inside the space, the “spring” is born throughout the day. As the seasons change and time passes, the landscape conveys infinite expressions.

The “mother” of the Toshima Museum of Art is a “spring” that gushes water from all directions throughout the day. Through two openings, the water resonates with light, wind, bird sounds, and sometimes rain, snow, and insects, conveying infinite expressions to visitors. When you are quietly in this space and feel in harmony with nature, you will feel the joy of life on earth.

The exterior of the Toshima Art Museum is reminiscent of the moment when a drop of water first falls to the ground. The plants on the grounds are all made up of clusters of weeds that grow naturally in Toshima, and strolling along the walkway connected to the museum while enjoying the view of the terraced rice paddies, you can get a sense of the beautiful scenery and history that this land possesses.

In the cafe and store area adjacent to the Toshima Museum of Art, natural light shines through the openings, creating a calm space where you can feel at one with the environment.

On the way to the Toshima Museum of Art, you will pass by the most beautiful highway on the island, Seaviewview, with layers of farmland crops on the left and a gentle right turn downhill in front of you, which is probably a breathtaking scene.

02 Archives of the heartbeat

In order to preserve the evidence of people's existence on this earth, Christian Boltanski has been working on a project to collect heartbeats since 2008. The Heartbeat Archive” is a small gallery that permanently preserves the heartbeats he has collected so far, and where you can listen to the heartbeats of people from all over the world.

The museum consists of three rooms: the “Heart Room,” where installations are exhibited; the “Recording Room,” where applicants' heartbeats are recorded; and the “Listening Room,” where heartbeats collected from around the world can be searched and listened to on a computer. These three rooms are made up of the “Recording Room” where the heartbeats of applicants are recorded. The recorded heartbeats will be kept in the archive along with a message from their owners and will become part of the work.

A 20-meter-long audio-visual room is accompanied by only one dim light, flickering with the rhythm of the heartbeat, at this moment, listening to the shocking heartbeat, looking at the flickering light, the short 20 meters has become so long, with the heartbeat to feel the “presence”, this thing sounds like it will move people.

“On this side of the sea, leave your heartbeat” to prove that, in this world, you have been here before.

03 Toshima Yokoo Hall

“Founded by artist Tadanori Yokoo and architect Yuko Nagayama, the Toshima Yokoo Pavilion was created by renovating a former residential house in the Iaura area, which faces the gateway port to Toshima. The exhibition space utilizes the layout of the existing building and consists of the “Main House,” “Warehouse,” and “Barn,” with 11 graphic works on display. In addition, the stone garden and pond, and the cylindrical tower are designed with installations, making the space for the works symbolically expand within the site.

A philosophical place that makes you think of life and death at the same time, the use of tinted glass on the building that controls light and color connects the spatial experience like a collage by altering the light, wind, color, and appearance of the works in Toshima.

Since he was about 30 years old, Tadanori Yokoo has been creating artwork that focuses on the theme of “life and death,” and that focuses on death in a positive way. At the Toshima Yokoo Museum, we have selected works that are very close to his theme from the many works he has created so far. In addition to the paintings he created for the museum, you can also see installations in the courtyard and the cylindrical tower.

In interviews he has expressed that people ultimately come back to the ranks of the dead, in the form of the soul. His works, whichever they are, are created around this issue. When it comes to stress, he believes that stress is self-created. Stress is eliminated if one has good control over one's self.

Yuko Nagayama preserved the exterior of the old mansion and transformed it with stained glass, etc. The red glass is a painting expression within the three-dimensional architectural expression. The red glass was used to express the museum's theme of “life and death” by adding painting to the three-dimensional architectural expression. The color “red” is also used extensively in Yokoo's works, and it is also the color of blood, which symbolizes life. The view on the other side, separated by the red glass, seems to be the boundary between “everyday and non-everyday” and “life and death” in the neighboring area.

💡

In addition to these islands.

Inujima, Miki, and Miki...

On these islands.

Art was never the main attraction.

It's like a pure land.

It's like a pure land, where you can leave the hustle and bustle of the world behind for a while.

You can feel it with your eyes and your heart.

To let go, to heal.

Give time some time...